Month: October 2017

Kelly’s present

Anyone who knows me in person, knows that I make a big deal out of my birthday.  I suspect some people think I make a big deal out of my birthday to extract presents out of people, but that’s not the purpose.  I just like it being my day.

That said, look at the very cool present my friend Kelly got me!  It’s a poster of 100 Essential Films, but it’s also a scratch off chart!
Look how shiny it is!

And here’s what’s cool. When the image is scratched off, it morphs into something else.  Take the tea cup that is a big part of the film Get Out.

When scratched, it reveals the fact of Daniel Kaluuya.  So fun!I have already seen 66 of 100 films.  My plan is to watch a film on the list I haven’t seen, and scratch that one, plus two I’ve already seen.  I look forward to working my way through this list.

Kelly also always writes a birthday haiku.  I found this one to be particularly sweet.
Thanks Kelly!

Three sentence movie reviews: Baby Driver

In my opinion, Ansel Elgort ruined The Fault in Our Stars and I’ve been annoyed by his presence ever since.  Until this movie, in which he has redeemed himself with his portrayal of Baby. In fact, nearly everything was amazing about this movie, most specifically the combination of music and film, which Wright does in a way that elevates this particular movie art.*

Cost: $4.00
Where watched: Laurelhurst, with Matt.

*This is a movie of pure delight and pure terror.** Jamie Fox was particularly captivating.
**This is also the last time I watched Keven Spacey and thought of him as nothing more than a good actor, rather than a predatory jerk.

poster from: http://www.impawards.com/2017/baby_driver.html

Birthday spoils

I had a good time celebrating my birthday with my family.  Aside from checks, I also received these lovely items.  Women’s World is a magazine my mother knows I love to hate.  When I worked in the library during college, my boss bought a copy weekly, which I would read during my Friday night shift.  Twenty years later, I continue to marvel that every single week they manage to have a cover with both a promise of rapid amounts of weight loss, and also a complex cake-like treat to make.

Most of my birthday money went to help meet my Payoff! goal, but stay tuned for the thing I did buy.

Vintage Cakes: Honey Bee Cake and Jam Cake with Chocolate Caramel Ganache

I made two cakes for the September/October birthday celebrations this year. Usually we have two celebrations. Chris and my Aunt Carol come first, and then mine.  This year, Chris and Aunt Carol opted out of a celebration, so we kind of celebrated all three birthdays at once.

Because Chris doesn’t like chocolate I made this Honey Bee Cake. It’s a buttermilk cake with a honey glaze.  Baking it, I was reminded that I’m not the greatest fan of honey’s super-sticky properties.  The cake itself was quite good.

This was the chocolate choice of the night. It’s a Jam Cake with Caramel Chocolate Ganache.  I didn’t quite get the caramel right, so the taste was very faint.  Other than that, this was a moist, lightly spiced cake. I’ve made a lot of the cakes in the Vintage Cakes cookbook.  We’re down to the ones that either have an ingredient I can’t justify purchasing, (The Harvey Wallbanger, which calls for 2 tablespoons of Galliano) or the ones that don’t appeal to me (Bananna Cake with Coffee Walnut Buttercream.)  Looking over the table of contents, there are a few more I want to bake, but this project is tapering off.

Get the dirt out

Here we are looking at the corner of Davis and 10th. This is the block I’ve been watching change. Currently, there are two dump trucks on the block itself and three waiting.  Excavation is always the first part of the high-rise project.
And here we see the actual excavation. This reminds me both of Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel, and Fuel by Ani DiFranco, that stalwart of my late 90s/early 2000s experience.

Keeping the vintage dress local

Early one Tuesday morning, I dropped books off at the library and continued on Denver Avenue.  But wait! I screeched to a stop. Is that my dress on display in the window of an antique shop?  I wheeled my bike over for another look.   It is!  That lovely grey and pink lace covered dress was my go-to fancy dress for years.  In fact, here’s a photo of me wearing it.

Riding the rest of the way to work, I tried to remember what happened to it. I’m pretty sure I donated it to the Goodwill.  But it’s made its way back to this vintage store.  We’re keeping it in the Kenton neighborhood.

Three sentence movie reviews: Free Ride

What happens when women make a movie about the drug trade? There’s a lot less on the action/adventure front and a lot more of the personal relationships. This was clearly a labor of love for all involved* and I really enjoyed this story, which probably could be told a thousand times over in different ways.

Cost: free from library
Where watched: at home

*Interestingly, the 70s classic rock song “Free Ride” by the Edgar Winter Group is not featured anywhere in this movie.  I’m assuming it’s because the rights were too expensive.

poster from: http://www.impawards.com/2017/free_ride.html

The imbalance of power

There are a lot of words being written about Harvey Weinstein.  A lot of people are having to check if he’s an E-I Weinstein or an I-E Wienstein.  I think this photo sums up the overall problem, in Hollywood, and in general. The woman on the right is Weinstein’s wife. She’s 41, and looks great. Because ultimately, that is women’s job in this world: to look pretty, to keep their figure, to be the sex object. In contrast, Harvey Weinstein is 65 and looks like crap.  Because it’s not his job to look good.  Instead, he gets to make a lot of money and acquire certain things: a successful movie producing company, willing to pay to settle multiple harassment cases with seemingly no penalty to him; plus a good-looking wife young enough to be his daughter.

I can’t know the specifics of the relationship of the two people pictured. But I know that finding a counter example–a couple consisting of a shlubby female successful 65-year-old business mogul* and an attractive 41-year-old man–would be tough enough that they would probably be the exception that proves the rule. Because men still run the show in this country.  And what a lot of them chose to do with their power is exploit other women, elevate men like them who won’t rock the boat, and keep women in their place.

(*Because 65-year-old female business moguls are few and far between and the ones who do exist are decidedly not schlubby. Because: not allowed.)

Hollywood and the media’s focus on style over substance magnifies this situation, but it exists in every corner of our society.  Things are changing, but not fast enough.

One Story: Toby and A Month on Greene Street

A story of loss, written by a student at Portland’s own Grant High School.

Tom Hanks has a successful career as an actor, director and producer. Plus a book deal for his short stories. He’s probably got enough money to start his own literary magazine.  Thus, it bugs me that he’s taking up space in the One Story lineup.  That said, I quite enjoyed this story.